I had heard that there was to be a lunar eclipse on April 4. I am not good at figuring out what time we are in comparison to GMT, and I made the mistake of not reading any links or articles about the eclipse.
None of the posts or headlines that I saw said PRE DAWN on April 4, so one would assume the NIGHT of April 4, yes?
Oh well.
We enjoyed a lovely evening in the hot tub, under the non-eclipsed full moon, just the same.
Surgical consult was last Tuesday. The surgeon examined my breasts and lymph nodes manually and declared that they are much improved from January, and that surgery is now possible.
But then she asked me to get a follow up PET scan, which I do recall the oncologist mentioning way back at the beginning of this journey.
I am not sure why the follow up PET was not already scheduled before the surgical consult, if it was a requirement for decision making.
The surgeon put sort of a dismal spin on things, though, by saying that if the metastases are not responding to the chemotherapy as well as the breast and lymph tumors did, then there isn't really any reason to proceed with surgery.
Surgery, for lack of a gentle way to put it, won't impact my chances of survival.
So, all these past few days, her words have been ringing in my head.
Of course, I strive to stay positive, and keep telling myself that there is NO reason to believe that the other sites have not responded as well as the breasts have, since the cells at the other sites came from the breasts.
Logically, the PET should reveal that there is a good response everywhere.
I try to keep hold of that.
It took a few days for the PET to be scheduled, and it is set up for Tuesday morning. Next Thursday is day 21 since my last treatment, and the oncology nurse stressed a couple of times that surgery needs to happen between 21 and 28 days after the last treatment.
If the "mets" are responding well, we will proceed with the mastectomies, and will have to schedule surgery immediately.
If they are not, I guess the oncologist continues to prescribe chemotherapy. I also guess I would still have to have the port installed surgically, even if I don't have the mastectomies.
I don't know.
SO once again, the not knowing, and the waiting (and the worry about waiting TOO LONG because of the 28 day time window), have brought anxiety back to the forefront of my daily state of being.
As I said, though, I am striving to remain positive and hopeful.
My side effects from this last round of chemotherapy have continued to be more pronounced. My appetite is fickle at best, and I had that weird pain in my trachea again yesterday. My mouth is much better, but not back to normal. During previous cycles, it would get back to normal after 10 or 12 days.
For the most part, though, I can't complain. The fears that we all had at the outset of me being sick all the time, and turning into a weak stick person, have not been realized, and for that I am grateful.
I have not been working out as much, but I have still been doing it. I've been taking walks when the weather has been good, too.
My office was closed Friday for Good Friday, so Dave took a vacation day too, and we had the electrician come and install our new kitchen light that morning. We got out and did all of our errands, too, so that we could relax all weekend.
Yesterday, we went to a couple of thrift stores, worked around the house a bit, and visited a local brewery.
It's Easter Sunday, so to those who mark the occasion with celebration, please enjoy!
For us, it's the third day of a three day weekend, and we have no plans other than puttering around the house, hoping the cloudy day brings rain, and trying to relax. Since I haven't done one since Thursday, I may also do a bit of a work out today.
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